


Men Like Tea

by orphan_account



Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: Autistic Alice, Autistic Character, Established Relationship, F/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-18 23:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2366078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice was in stained sweatpants and a sweater; and she was sitting on the counter and there were tears in her eyes. Hatter stepped forward immediately, walking slowly to her.</p>
<p>-- </p>
<p>In which Alice realizes that Jack wasn't as kind to her as she thought, and Hatter reassures her that it doesn't make her weak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Men Like Tea

**Author's Note:**

> I was ranting on Tumblr about how Jack manipulates Alice throughout the movie and then I decided to write a fic about it.
> 
> Alice is heavily coded as autistic in this; and Alice and Hatter are both suggested to have some form of PTSD from what happened in Wonderland.

Hatter awoke and glanced over at the clock and decided it was far too early (late?) for any decent person, Wonderlander or Oyster, to be awake. He rolled over and reached for Alice and closed his eyes.

His hands met air. Hatter opened his eyes and frowned at the empty bed in front of him.

The silence was broken by the shrieking of the tea kettle, and he jumped out of bed and had his fist at the ready and stood there for a solid thirty seconds before realizing what it was. His heart pounding, he pulled on a pair of paint and bleach-stained sweatpants and walked out into the kitchen. Their kitchen.

Alice was in stained sweatpants and a sweater; and she was sitting on the counter and there were tears in her eyes. Hatter stepped forward immediately, walking slowly to her.

“Alice?” he asked quietly—always be quiet, they both had learned, when first approaching the other. Loud noises brought them back to Wonderland as easily as the Looking Glass, back to gunshots and collapsing buildings and blood.

Still, Alice jumped. “Hatter!” She tried to hastily and discretely wipe the tears from her eyes, forcing a smile at him. “Hey. I'm sorry, did I wake you?

“Nah,” he shook his head, stepping forward to place a kiss on her cheek. “Nightmares.” He glanced down at the counter, to the steaming kettle and a small teapot. She had been planning for a long night, then. “Want to talk?” Hatter asked quietly. After a moment, Alice nodded. “What's weighing on your mind, then?” he asked, switching the small teapot out for a large one and adding another two teaspoons of her favorite earl grey to the tea ball. If she was staying up, he decided, then she didn't have to do it alone.

“You were right,” she whispered.

“I am about lots of stuff, be more specific,” he cracked a smile. It faded when she didn't react. “About what?”

“He manipulated me,” Alice responded.

A beat. “Who?” Hatter asked. He had run through the possible options in his head, running through a list of all the men Alice knew as easily as he used to run through his mental list of teas; and while he had an idea, he didn't want to say it until she did. She looked at him, and her face changed, and he knew that she knew that he knew.

They let it hang in silence for a moment before Hatter just said, “Should I—could I—would you like a hug, Alice?”

She shook her head. “No-touch night.” Alice bit her lip, staring at her lap and her eyes got wet again. “He helped me,” she said quietly, “He helped me find my dad again. He was kind to me. He can't have manipulated me, because manipulating is, is a form of abuse, and he wouldn't do that. He was good, he was working for the resistance.”

Hatter sighed, staring at her. He took a moment to think about that, quietly setting to work pouring them each a cup of tea. He handed Alice hers, three sugars and a splash of milk, and she took it and held it in her lap.

“I think,” Hatter said, pulling a chair up and sitting down. “I think that.” He paused. “Back when I sold teas,” he said instead, “There were cocktails on the market. Some cocktails you bought were just, just discounted versions of other emotions, y'know, mix Lust and Love and get a cheap version of Desire. But some were marketed as they were, as cocktails. And most of 'em, they were mixing the good emotions. But some people, they found out how to mix teas to get bad emotions. Mix Energy with Ferocity, get Anger. Mix Anger and Clear Conscious, the Clear Conscious went bad and you got Regret. And some people, they liked these bad emotions! Said they made them feel more real. So people would find ways to mix the bad with the good, take a shot of Anger with a shot of Lust, to get new highs. Especially popular when there was a lull, when there weren't new emotions for a few months. People craved new things.”

Hatter paused, and Alice glanced up at him. “... And?" she asked.

“And I think,” Hatter said, “That people aren't—people aren't like the teas I sold, and they're not like the sour teas, either. Nobody is all good or all bad. I think that people are cocktails, the good and the bad. And I think that Jack... was a cocktail, just like you or me. And he may have done good, but...” Hatter frowned, taking a quick sip of his tea before continuing. “But if you take a big swig of Slithy Tove, a cocktail made up of Fear and Regret and Happiness, the Happiness doesn't actually outweigh the bad parts. It makes them less noticeable, but the bad parts are still there.”

Alice nodded after a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds...” she swallowed, looked down. “Am I stupid?” she asked quietly, “For falling for everything he said? Because it was—it was a lot, David!” she let out a little manic laugh, “Everything he said, almost every damn thing he said, was manipulating me!” She set the cup of tea down, nervously tangling her hands together. “Everything! He never let me disagree with him, he always phrased things to, to guilt me! To make me trust him, to make me feel bad for not trusting him!” Alice let out another laugh that turned into a short sob. “I hate him!” she screamed, throwing her mug on the ground.

Hatter jumped up as it shattered, staring at it.

Silence hung heavy in the room.

“I'm sorry,” Alice said, her voice wavering.

“No,” Hatter shook his head, gingerly stepping over the shattered glass to stand in front of Alice. “No, Alice, I understand.” He frowned. “My mom,” he whispered, “Treated me the same way. And I did the same thing when I realized. Honestly, you're taking it much better than I did.”

After a moment, Alice reached her hand out and he took it gently. “You'll be okay,” he promised, “Jack is in Wonderland, love. He can't do that to you again. We never have to see him again.”

Alice nodded. “Am I weak?”

“No,” Hatter squeezed her hand, “No, not at all. You're the strongest woman I know, Alice.”

She smiled, just a little. “I don't feel strong.”

“But you are!” he protested, “You brought down the whole house of cards! And you—“ he sighed, “You have been through so much, Alice. And you have overcome so much. And you are so strong to have made it through it all.”

She smiled then, wider than before. “Thank you, Hatter.”

Hatter smiled, kissing her on the cheek again. “Want to go back to bed?”

“No,” Alice shook her head, “I don't think I can yet.”

“Want to move to the couch, then?”

She nodded, and he carefully picked her up from the counter and carried her over the broken glass to the living room. He sat her down before going back for their tea, bringing it back and curling up next to her.

“David?” she asked, her voice muffled slightly by his shirt.

“Eh?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“You don't have to stay up with me.”

“I know.”

Five hours later, as the sun began to rise, Hatter noticed that Alice had finally fallen asleep. He carefully picked her up again, carrying her into the bed and laying down next to her. Alice Hamilton, he decided, was the strongest girl he had ever met. The strongest person. And he was honored to be the person she had chosen to lean on when she couldn't be as strong as she wanted.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment if you like it! I'm considering writing a similar fic where Alice helps Hatter through the mentioned issues with his mother. Thoughts on that?


End file.
